Nucleotide sequences and corresponding polypeptides conferring modulated growth rate and biomass in plants grown in saline and oxidative conditions

Abstract

The present invention relates to isolated nucleic acid molecules and their corresponding encoded polypeptides able confer the trait of improved plant size, vegetative growth, growth rate, seedling vigor and/or biomass in plants challenged with saline and/or oxidative stress conditions. The present invention further relates to the use of these nucleic acid molecules and polypeptides in making transgenic plants, plant cells, plant materials or seeds of a plant having plant size, vegetative growth, growth rate, seedling vigor and/or biomass that are improved in saline and/or oxidative stress conditions with respect to wild-type plants grown under similar conditions.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A plant cell transformed with an exogenous nucleic acid, said exogenous nucleic acid comprising a heterologous promoter operably linked to a nucleotide sequence comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide, wherein said polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having 95 percent or greater sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:86, and wherein overexpression of said polypeptide in a transformed plant grown from said transformed plant cell has an increased level of tolerance to salinity or oxidative stress as compared to the corresponding level of tolerance to salinity or oxidative stress of a control plant of the same species cultivated under the same conditions that does not comprise said exogenous nucleic acid. 
     
     
       2. The transformed plant cell of  claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having 97 percent or greater sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:86. 
     
     
       3. A transgenic plant comprising the plant cell of  claim 1 . 
     
     
       4. The transgenic plant of  claim 3 , wherein said plant is a member of a species selected from the group consisting of  Panicum virgatum  (switchgrass),  Sorghum bicolor  (sorghum, sudangrass),  Miscanthus giganteus  ( miscanthus ),  Saccharum  sp. (energycane),  Populus balsamifera  (poplar),  Zea mays  (corn),  Glycine max  (soybean),  Brassica napus  (canola),  Triticum aestivum  (wheat),  Gossypium hirsutum  (cotton),  Oryza sativa  (rice),  Helianthus annuus  (sunflower),  Medicago sativa  (alfalfa),  Beta vulgaris  (sugarbeet), and  Pennisetum glaucum  (pearl millet). 
     
     
       5. A seed or vegetative tissue comprising the plant cell of  claim 1 , wherein said seed or vegetative tissue comprises the exogenous nucleic acid. 
     
     
       6. A food or feed product comprising the seed or vegetative tissue of  claim 5 , wherein the food or feed product comprises the exogenous nucleic acid. 
     
     
       7. The transformed plant cell of  claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:86. 
     
     
       8. The transgenic plant of  claim 3 , wherein the polynucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:86.